Forgotten birthday
by mirdaishan
Summary: It's been five days since her birthday and yet Morgan still can't stop thinking about it: how is it possible that Greg forgot her birthday? (Don't worry, it's still a Morganders story!)


**As most of you will know it was Elisabeth Harnois's birthday last Monday (happy (late) birthday, Elisabeth!). I actually wanted to do a story for her birthday, but as I had to work, I didn't have time to write it until today, which made me think of this - what if Greg would forget Morgan's birthday? Hope you guys will enjoy, if you do, just let me know in a review! :)**

_**Forgotten birthday**_

Five days had passed and she still wasn't able to let it go: that feeling of having been forgotten.

If she would talk to anyone about it, they would probably call her crazy as she had no reason to feel forgotten. After all, she had spent her birthday hanging out with all of her friends – they had taken her shopping and they had insisted on paying everything for her – and in the evening she had had a great dinner with her parents there as well. Because it was her birthday, her mother and father had been acting normal to each other for a change and her father had even tried to start a conversation with her stepdad. The next day, when she had come in to work again, her colleagues had wished her 'happy birthday' and they had handed her a birthday card with a gift certificate inside. Everyone's name had been on the card, even his.

But he hadn't said anything.

Morgan just couldn't let go of the fact that Greg had forgotten her birthday. He hadn't texted her on the day itself or said anything the next day when she had seen him again. Okay, he had looked really busy – he had barely had the time to say 'Hi' – but she had never expected him to not say anything at all. Especially not after what had happened two days earlier…

When she walked into the breakroom that night, five days after her birthday, and she saw Greg sitting at the table, she couldn't help but feel hurt. Even David had said 'Happy birthday' to her, so why hadn't he?

Before she could say anything to Greg, Finn walked into the breakroom.

"Hey," she said, taking the cup of coffee Morgan automatically handed her. "Oh, I like your necklace! Where did you get it?"

She carefully touched the silver necklace around Morgan's neck.

"My friends bought it for me," Morgan told her. "They took me shopping Monday and they insisted on paying everything for me, including this necklace!"

Finn grinned at her. "I like those kind of friends!"

Morgan grinned back at her. "Yeah, me too! Although I think they just did it so they didn't have to go through the trouble of finding me a birthday present!"

At the table Greg immediately looked up at the word 'birthday'. He narrowed his eyes and suddenly pushed his chair back. "I am so sorry, I completely forgot! I've been so busy with this case that I… I'm really sorry, Morgan, I didn't mean to forget your birthday!"

He hurried over to her and pulled her into a tight hug, making her feel a little less forgotten. He still had his arms around her when Hodges popped into the breakroom.

"Hey, Greg, I've texted you like three times already!" he said, sounding almost angry. "I thought you needed your results as soon as I had them?"

"Yeah, I do, I…" Greg hesitantly looked from Morgan to Hodges and back. "I… Yeah, I'm coming! I'm sorry, Morgan, I really am!"

He grabbed the file he had been reading from the table and rushed out of the breakroom towards Hodges' lab, the Trace lab tech following him while rolling his eyes. Morgan immediately felt that forgotten feeling returning. She tried to ignore it and turned to Finn, who had a teasing smile on her face. Morgan shook her head. "Don't start, Greg and I aren't together!"

"Why not?" Finn sighed. "You two make such a great couple and that hug he just gave you… That's really not a hug you give someone when you don't love that person!"

"I… You… Greg doesn't love me," Morgan finally managed to say. "If he did, he wouldn't have forgotten my birthday."

She couldn't help but sound a little angry. It was true, right? If Greg really loved her, he would have remembered her birthday!

"Ah!" Finn suddenly understood. "Now I understand your denial!"

"I'm not…"

"Look, Morgan, I'm not trying to make excuses for him, but I know he has been really busy with the case Russell assigned him to on Monday," Finn said, a little more serious. "It's a high profile case – a dead actor, a politician involved… Your father has been breathing down his neck all week and I've seen the mayor around as well. He really didn't mean to forget your birthday, I'm sure of that. And if I know him a little he probably feels really awful about it now. Maybe you should go talk to him later…"

Morgan hesitated, thinking back to what had happened two days before her birthday. Was a high profile case reason enough to forget her birthday? She wasn't sure yet and until she was sure, she couldn't get herself to talk to Greg just yet.

While Morgan was hesitating about what to do, Greg barely listened to what Hodges was telling him. He felt really awful about forgetting Morgan's birthday, especially after what had happened last week. How could he not remember? He always remembered everything she told him – what she had had for breakfast, what her favorite song of the moment was, which movie she had watched on TV the night before – how could he possibly forget her birthday then?

"Are you even listening?" Hodges suddenly called out to him, waking him up from his thoughts at the exact same moment sheriff Ecklie walked in. He raised his eyebrows at Hodges, who sighed impatiently. "I'm sorry…"

"No, I'm sorry!" Greg blurted out all of a sudden. "I'm sorry that I forgot Morgan's birthday and I can never forgive myself for that! I need to make this up to her, especially since…"

He quickly stopped talking. Ecklie looked at him with a curious look in his eyes. "Especially since what?"

Greg took a deep breath before he looked at the sheriff. "Especially since I told her that I love her."

_Saturday, two days till her birthday. Morgan wasn't particularly excited about being a year older again, but she was about seeing her friends. They were constantly texting her, sending her updates about their flight or their plans for Monday. Greg grinned at her when she checked her phone for probably the hundredth time. "I think there's some glue around here somewhere: if you glue your phone to your hand you won't have to go through the trouble of picking it up every time!"_

_She grinned back at him. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea! I'll make you a deal: if I touch my phone again within the next five minutes, __**you**__ can glue it to my hand!"_

"_Deal!" he grinned. He checked his watch and then leaned back in his chair. Smiling Morgan turned towards her computer, trying to find a fingerprint match. A beeping sound told her she had received a new text message, but she kept her eyes on the screen. When her phone beeped again, she could hear Greg grin._

"_I'm not touching it!" she said, her eyes still on the screen. Greg just grinned as a response._

_Three minutes passed without any beeps, making it easier for Morgan not to check her phone. It also made her forget her deal with Greg for a moment, so when her phone beeped after those three minutes, she automatically picked it up._

"_Yes!" Greg happily grinned. She groaned in annoyance – how could she forget? She gave him a sad look. "I suppose we can't pretend you didn't see that?"_

"_Nope!"_

_She sighed, handing him her phone. "Here, you take it while I'll go and find the glue…"_

_She sighed again, looking at him. "You probably think I'm crazy, right?"_

"_I could never think you're crazy," he reassured her. "Maybe just a little weird, but…"_

"_Oh!" She pushed him against his shoulder, pretending he had insulted her. Grinning he grabbed her arm to prevent her from pushing her again, unintentionally pulling her closer. She lost her balance, quickly putting her hand on his shoulder so she wouldn't fall. When she turned her head, she looked straight at him, her face only inches apart from his. Before she knew it, their lips had found each other. She immediately felt herself getting lost in the kiss… until footsteps in the hallway told them someone was coming. She quickly hurried back to her own desk, but no one entered their office. She carefully looked up at Greg, who was still looking at her. She warmly smiled at him, hoping it would let him know how much she had enjoyed their kiss._

"_I love you," he whispered to her._

"_I…"_

"_Morgan, I don't get this!" Russell entered their office before she could finish her sentence. "Your report says it fifty percent, but I thought it heard you say something about thirty percent earlier?"_

"_Oh, I…" She had no choice but to follow Russell to his office. By the time she had figured out what the correct number was, Greg was processing a car with Sara in the garage and she didn't see him again till the day after her birthday, when he barely had the time to say 'Hi'._

Greg remembered his heart jumping up when she had started with 'I…' and how it had dropped when Russell had interrupted her. He had wanted to wait for her to come back, but Sara had walked in seconds after Morgan and Russell had left, telling him their car was ready. Even though he considered Sara his best friend he hadn't said anything about what had just happened and he had just followed her over to the garage. While processing the car, the doubts had started coming. Had it been the right thing to tell Morgan that he loved her? What if it hadn't been 'I love you too' that she had started to say? He knew he could have just texted her and asked her to meet him after shift to finish their conversation, but his doubts had prevented him from doing that.

But now the doubts had disappeared – he knew how he felt and he was certain Morgan felt the same. He kept looking straight at the sheriff as he continued: "I know there's rules about dating co-workers and I know she's your daughter, but I can't help feeling what I feel! And I don't care if everyone knows about it!"

He turned to Hodges for a moment, knowing how much the lab tech loved to gossip. In an attempt to look innocent Hodges held up his hands, a surprised look on his face.

"So, just to get things straight: you told my daughter you loved her, she didn't get the chance to say anything about your confession and then you forgot her birthday," Ecklie summarized the whole story. "Well, I'd say you need something really big to make this up to her! Do you have anything in mind?"

"Maybe I do, yeah…" Greg nodded, suddenly remembering something he had read earlier today. "But it means I need to borrow your phone for a moment…"

Without hesitation Ecklie handed him his phone. Greg looked up at him, a little surprised, but then he understood this was the sheriff's way of letting him know he was okay with the two of them dating.

On the other side of the building Morgan was looking at some crime scenes photos with Sara when she received a text message from her father, asking her to meet him at the Melbourne Bar after shift. She didn't really feel like going as she was still doubting about finding Greg and talk to him, but as she didn't want to upset her Dad either she texted back she'd see him there.

A few hours later she entered the bar, noticing a sign saying Melody Rivers was performing live tonight. It made her feel a little better as she loved Melody's music – she had heard her sing for the first time only a week after she had moved to Vegas and since then, she wasn't afraid to call herself a fan. She had downloaded all of Melody's songs from her official website and she had been to several performances. Because of her work she wasn't able to go to all of Melody's concerts, so most of the time she just listened to the songs in her car. Her favorite one was 'Go into the future' as it always made her think about her own future. Would Greg be in it?

Greg?

She suddenly realized she was thinking about him because she was looking at him. What was he doing here? She quickly walked over to him, giving him a confused look.

"Sorry I made you think you were meeting your Dad," he said, taking her hand. "But I was afraid that if I texted you, you wouldn't come. I'm really so sorry about forgetting your birthday, Morgan, I'll never be able to forgive myself. After what happened between us last week I started to get afraid you didn't feel the same way I felt and then Russell assigned me to that stupid high profile case… I know it's no excuse and like I said, I'll never be able to forgive myself, but I hope this will help you forgive me…"

He stepped aside. Now Morgan saw someone had been standing behind him – a woman none other than Melody Rivers.

"Hi," Melody smiled at her. "Greg told me you liked my music so much and that you had a great singing voice… Would you like to come up on stage with me tonight and sing 'Go into the future' together with me?"

Morgan stared at her in amazement. "Are you serious?"

Melody smiled at her again. "Yes, definitely! Only if you want, of course…"

"I… I… Yes, I'd love to!" A huge smile appeared on Morgan's face. "That's amazing, I… I don't know what to say!"

Melody grinned. "You don't have to say anything. Just meet me backstage when you're ready, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be there!" Morgan still couldn't believe it. She was going to sing on stage with Melody Rivers? It almost felt like she was dreaming!

"Happy birthday," Greg whispered in her ear, making her realize she wasn't dreaming. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close. "Thank you so much, I love it! And I love you too, Greg, please don't ever be afraid again I don't feel the same way you do!"

To prove her words she pulled him even closer and kissed him. As they kissed, the feeling of being forgotten completely disappeared from Morgan's body. From now on she knew she'd never have to feel forgotten again.


End file.
